This article is from page 14 of the 2006-02-14 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
SHANNON was almost the scene of a dramatic stopover on Saturday night when world record holder Steve Fossett was nearly forced into an emergency landing.
Staff at the airport were on standby late on Saturday night, after it emerged that a fuel leak was detected onboard his Virgin Atlantic Globalflyer. The leak is believed to have occurred shortly after Mr Fossett took off from the Kennedy Space Shuttle centre in Florida, on Wednesday last.
Mr Fossett ignored warnings, during the final hours of his epic journey, that he should set down in Clare, in order to land in England.
His decision was made all the more risky as he had passed the ‘point of no return’ over the Atlantic. Shannon had been designated as a secondary landing area for the 61-year-old adventurer, who was attempting to break the world record for the longest non-stop flight in history.
He had originally intended to finish his journey in Kent, England, but was eventually forced to touch down in Bournemouth after an electrical problem nearly caused the plane’s ventilation system to overload.
As it turned out, it was in the skies above Shannon where the 61 year old former stockbroker broke the record, which had stood since 1986. He completed the 24,987 mile round trip in 76 hours to cement his place in the record books.
“It was looking like we could get him at one stage. He made a decision at 11 o’clock, when he had crossed the point of no return, to continue on towards England. We were on standby, but it never happened,” said Clare McHenry, spokesperson for Shannon Airport Authority.